What we can't leave behind
by Hana Himura
Summary: When they met, it was hatred at first sight. What they couldn't expect was that love and hate were two sides of the same coin. AU (K+K)


**Author's notes: **For those of you who already know me… this is what I've been doing that I haven't been updating my other stories anymore. The story is "O que não podemos deixar para trás", that I've been writing in Portuguese. A very special thanks to Aerin. Without her, this story would be forever in Portuguese. She was kind enough to spend precious time translating.

**!!!Warnings!!!  
**Rating will go up in two chapters. I know nothing of Advertisement! Everything here is made up! And I've been told that it feels like it's been set in São Paulo @_@ 

**Expect OCC!!! And chapters varying between Kaoru's and Kenshin's point of views. **

**Disclaimer:** RK doesn't belong to me. I asked Santa Claus for it, but he said that it already had an owner… ^_^;;; 

**_To my wonderful friend and editor, KayJuli_**

**_

What We Can't Leave Behind

_**

By: Hana Himura  
Edited by: KayJuli  
Translated by: Aerin-chan 

**_  
Kaoru. _**

**_  
_I woke up in the morning with the radio alarm clock. Cindy Lauper's strident voice made me open my eyes that same instant, making me feel slightly disoriented. I was having a good dream. I stretched to the sound of "Girls just wanna have fun." **

**I was so comfortable that I didn't really want to get up. I hugged my pillows, remembering the dream I had had. I sighed, thinking about the dream and relating it to last night's date. Maybe he was the right person for me. I laughed like a schoolgirl as I rose to get ready for another work day. **

_When the working day is done,  
Oh, girls,  
They wanna have fu-un.  
Oh, girls,  
Just wanna have fun..._

**I sang with Cindy Lauper, using the hairbrush as a microphone. My voice was out of pitch, but it didn't make a difference. It wasn't like the neighbors would complain. Dancing around the apartment, I chose the clothes to use that day. I could go for the sexy-seductive style, I thought, taking a very tight red dress from the closet. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, holding the dress against my body. **

**'How come people have the courage to buy red clothes?' I thought, making a face. **

**I don't have anything against red clothes, only that they simply don't match with me. My style was more conservative. I took a gray combination from the closet. Once again, I put it against my body and made a new face. I looked a nun. Not so seductive, but neither so conservative. They say that clothes say a lot about who we are… **

**I ended up deciding in favor of a classic: a black skirt, with a white blouse, high-heeled shoes. I would wear my hair up in a bun. It would be the image of a perfect businesswoman, young, but responsible. **

**As soon as I was done dressing, the interphone rang. I put the toothbrush in my mouth while I ran to pick it up. **

**"I'll be down in a second," I said into the interphone and ran back to the bathroom. **

**I spat the toothpaste into the sink, grabbed my purse, and ran to start another day. **

**"Sorry for the delay, Misao-chan!" I shouted as I ran to get into the car. **

**"You aren't that late, Kaoru," answered Misao as I slammed the car's door. "So, how was the date?" **

**"It was great!" I answered enthusiastically. "He is so sweet, so gentle… A true gentleman. And the restaurant was fantastic. I used that blue dress…" **

**"Ah! I love that dress," said Misao, starting the car. "So, when are you two going out again?" **

**"He said he'd call me." **

**"Oh..." Misao said in a disappointed tone. **

**It took me a few seconds to figure out the why behind Misao's disappointment. **

**"I got dumped, didn't I?" I asked. **

**"Sorry, Kaoru-chan..." **

**"Damn!" I pouted. "And he didn't even have the courage to tell that to my face." **

**"Maybe he'll call…" **

**"Really?" I asked, my eyes filling with hope. **

**"Don't wait by the phone." **

**Oh, the temptation... If she weren't driving, I swear to God that I'd strangle her. I pressed my hands over my skirt's cloth, trying to control my urge to squeeze Misao's neck. And of course, when we got to the agency, I had already forgotten everything. **

**"Let's eat lunch together," said Misao as we entered through the hall. **

**"Sure," I agreed. **

**The day, that had started out marvelously, was surely losing its charm as it progressed. How would I have known that my day still hadn't reached its lowest point? **

**I got to my office; there were flowers on the table. I grabbed the card, anxious to know who had sent them… disappointment… Ryuzaburo, one of the agency's graphic artists. He never did give up… **

**"Good morning, Kamiya-san. Mr. Yamagata is calling us to the meeting room," said Soujirou, unmoving by my door. He had that enigmatic smile on his face. "You're looking very pretty today, Kamiya-san." **

**What was this? Was he by any chance trying to complicate my already complicated love life? I didn't deserve this! I ignored what Soujirou said and walked straight to the meeting room. I was sure that he was staring at my behind and had let me go on ahead for that reason. They say the quiet ones are the most perverted. **

**The whole team was gathered around the table. **

**"What is happening?" I asked Misao in a quiet voice. **

**"It seems that Mr. Yamagata hired someone," Misao interrupted her explanation because Mr. Yamagata was entering the room, accompanied by a redhead. **

**I looked at the stranger. He looked scarily familiar. Where had I seen that man before? He was gorgeous. His hair was maybe a bit too long for my taste, but everything in him was perfect. In addition to the fact that he dressed a lot better than any man I had ever met. **

**"He's a hunk," Misao whispered to me. **

**"Good morning," began Mr. Yamagata. "With much pride, I am going to introduce to you the newest member of our team: Kenshin Himura." **

**Kenshin? Himura? Oh, no! That is why I knew him! He was simply the **

**"Most intolerable and arrogant bastard I ever met in my entire life," I muttered. **

**Misao had barely listened to me and already sent an inquisitive look in my direction. I tried to look the other way, so that Himura wouldn't see that it was me… Which was impossible, since Mr. Yamagata decided to introduce all the members of the team to him, one by one. There wasn't any way I could hide. Well, I could pretend not to recognize him. Maybe he wouldn't remember me. When Mr. Yamagata said my name, I said: **

**"Welcome to Standard Advertising, Mr. Himura," I shook his hand maybe a bit more strongly than I had wished for at first. "I'm Kaoru Kamiya, from the liaison department." **

**"Kamiya's office is next to yours, Himura," said Mr. Yamagata. "Himura will also work in the liaison department." **

**And my luck was simply rolling downhill, without any hopes of stopping. That annoying man, to top it off, had the same job as I?! That couldn't be possible. Luckily, he didn't seem to recognize me. **

** "I am anxious to work with you, Kamiya-san," said Kenshin, with a bright smile. **

**And my luck stopped rolling downhill. It had hit headfirst against a wall. Aahh!!! This couldn't be happening to me! It couldn't! I must've been dreaming! Worse, having a nightmare! Someone wake me up, please! I needed to breathe deeply and lie with a fake smile: **

**"I am anxious as well, Himura-san." **

**"Please, call me Kenshin." **

**Damn! On top of all this, the disgrace wanted to be called by his first name?! Isn't this tempting fate and luck? Well, my luck had already suffered a terrible accident and showed no signs of recovery, so… **

** "Kenshin," I repeated, faking shamelessly. **

**Mr. Yamagata ended the meeting and I returned to my office. All that pretending had left me tired. Misao knocked on my door. **

**"Are you okay, Kaoru? You looked ready to burst a vein in there," said Misao. **

**My eyes widened, but she soon calmed me. **

**"No one noticed," she said. **

**"I hate him!" I muttered, tightening my fists in fury. **

**"You hate whom?" Misao asked. **

**"Himura!" I nearly shouted. I had to control myself to keep my calm. **

**"How can you hate someone you just met?" she was incredulous. **

**"Ah, I know him… And very well! We studied together in high school." **

***~*Flashback*~* **

**It was hate at first sight. All those who know me well understand that I am not one who judges by appearances, or who is quick to judge. But the moment I saw him, I knew I hated him. **

**All stories have a beginning. Ours started years ago, in a classroom. Maybe I didn't hate him the exact moment I saw him, but it was surely very close to that. **

**I was sitting calmly at my desk when he came in for the first time. He was with the teacher. New student, just transferred… My first enemy. I confess that when I saw him for the first time, I felt pity. I heard whispers throughout the entire classroom. He was a red haired boy, with a ridiculous haircut and a skin that seemed to have declared itself "Public state of calamity". Furthermore, he was short, nearly as much as I. I thought that the poor boy would be the punching bag of all school bullies for the next few months. **

**I pushed my glasses to their place. They had the tendency to slip down my nose. **

**"Silence!" the teacher requested and, turning to face the boy again: "Introduce yourself to the class." **

**"I- I am Kenshin Himura," He half stuttered in a low voice. **

**"There's an empty desk back there." The teacher pointed. **

**Right behind me. What a misfortune. As he came closer, I felt even more repulse of him. It was as if he were changing his skin like a snake or something. Simply disgusting. **

**"Put your books away. We're going to have a pop test." **

**Great… Biology pop test… My most hated subject. I could never get straight the types and scientific names of those nasty little bugs that the teacher always asked us to remember. **

**"You don't have to take the test if you don't want to, Kenshin," said the teacher. **

**Half of the class shot him a jealous look. I simply was unable to understand why, just because he was a new student, he could choose not take the test. After all, was he or wasn't he in our class? But this wasn't the first thing that irritated me… What irritated me was: **

**"I want to," he said, timidly. "I like Biology." **

**How could anyone like Biology?! It was the most horrible subject that could exist! **

**"I like Biology," I grumbled under my breath, imitating his voice. No one heard me. **

**We began to fill in the test. I felt someone elbow me in the back. I swear, if that little fluff-ball with an alligator's skin asked me if he could copy, I would murder him at that exact moment. To his luck, that wasn't what he did. **

**"Could I borrow the whiteout?" he asked. **

**My liquid paper was on top of my desk. Why did I have to have left that just there for everyone to see? I ended up giving him the whiteout, before the teacher thought that _I_ was trying to copy from _him_. **

**Kenshin started to shake the whiteout, but the top must've been loose. Well, the movement of shaking the whiteout, added to the force of gravity… I was never very good at physics, but there surely wasn't a good explanation for why that liquid paper spilled exactly on me. **

**"Baka!" I stood up, shouting. **

**My face, my clothes… My glasses! Ah! He was going to die! **

**"Kamiya, sit down," the teacher sent me one of those looks. **

**I decided to sit. There was a huge white spot on my test, covering half of the questions and half of my answers. I clenched my fists in fury, before asking the teacher for a new test. **

**And it was in this way that I began to hate Kenshin Himura. **

***~*End of Flashback*~* **

**"But it doesn't seem to have been really his fault…" Misao justified. "Besides, now he's Mr. Gorgeous." **

**"Mr. Gorgeous? You're joking, ne? Kenshin? Gorgeous? The day Kenshin is gorgeous, cows would waltz with the Emperor!" **

**"I am not very well-versed in cow's lifestyles, but if you say so… Then, definitely, they are waltzing," Misao answered, with a very enigmatic smile. **

**"All right… I agree that he isn't completely horrible, but-" **

**"I knew you thought he was a hunk," Misao interrupted rudely. **

**"But," I repeated in a louder voice, "He is completely rotten inside. An ass! If you knew the things he did at school… He made me get an F in Geography!" I nearly shouted. "And it wasn't only that! He kicked a ball against my head in PE!" I lowered my voice. "He saw my underwear." **

**Misao began to laugh. Obviously, I was sounding as if I were seventeen again! **

**"How many men have already seen your underwear, Kaoru?" **

**"That isn't the case! What matters is that he did everything to turn my life into a living Hell!" **

**Misao laughed. **

**"You know what they say, Kaoru? That between love and hate, there is a very thin line." **

**"Ha! Who said that doesn't know anything! No one could love a person like Kenshin Himura!" I declared, loudly. **

**It was true. He was completely unbearable. No one in his right mind could like him. **

**"If you like him that much, why don't you keep him?" I asked Misao. **

**"Maybe I will…" **

**I looked at her with skepticism. She couldn't be serious! **

**"Don't worry, Kaoru!" she answered, raising her hands, making me let out a relieved sigh. "I am not going to mess with my best friend's love life!" she exclaimed, pinching my cheek. **

**With a friend like this, who needs enemies? When Misao went out, I threw myself on my chair and sighed. How could I do my job properly with that scarecrow nearby? **

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To Be Continued…  
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